Review of Kindle Fire (by new owner)

KINDLE FIRE
I’m not the most tech-savvy person in the world, and techy things aren’t really my cup of tea. I figure that’s why I married a guy who LOVES all that stuff. So he can do all the research and then buy me whatever he thinks is best. Heck, I won’t know the difference anyway! Since
I recently had a birthday, and since I’m an avid reader (like 3-4 books at a
time), I had been toying with the idea of getting an e-reader. I figured I’d tell my husband I wouldn’t mind having one and then I’d leave the idea in his very capable hands. That’s what I did and surprise! I am the brand new owner of a Kindle Fire!
There are two things you should know about me: 1) I REALLY like to read and 2) I REALLY hate
to spend money on “unnecessary” things.
So, I was hesitant to take the plunge and get a Kindle Fire because I
spent $0 dollars a month on books before a Kindle, and I didn’t want my book
budget to go up and out of control just because I had a new fancy gadget. So, once I had my Kindle in my hands, I went to work downloading FREE e-books. I’ve
got to say, I’m not too impressed with the collection. Granted, I have not searched that hard, and
I’m pretty picky in my selections, so maybe it’s my fault. But I expected there to be thousands of
interesting books out there just free for the downloading; not a major bummer,
but just a little let-down. Otherwise, I love my Kindle.

PROS:
I love that you can play games on it, check the internet, access Facebook…it’s like having a little laptop that can go with me anywhere.
Not to mention the reading….oh the glorious reading! I’ve had it about 2 weeks and
I’ve read 6 books. It feels like I’m reading super fast because of how often you’re “flipping” pages.
I like the fact that I can touch a word on my screen and it will be defined for me.
I can make notes and highlight interesting parts too!
It was imperative to me that my e-reader be back-lit, since I wanted to be able to read it anywhere. I love that I can adjust the brightness to suit my needs, whatever they may be.
I like that I can watch videos!
The battery seems to have a pretty decent life to it. I’m not on my Kindle for hours a
day, so I only have to re-charge it every few days.
There are some other features that appear to be really cool that I haven’t even touched yet.
There is a music tab, a documents tab and a video tab that I have yet to explore.

CONS:
I hate the fact that I can never find the “sweet spot” to pull up the tool bar at the bottom to return to the home screen or to see my progress in a book. I end up touching everywhere along the screen, sometimes inadvertently turning pages until I find the right spot.
It also bugs me that sometimes the page-turning seems a little under-sensitive. Again, I either have to find the right spot to tap or I have to drag my finger dramatically to get it to respond.

All in all, I’m in love. It’s lightweight and portable and provides
endless hours of entertainment! What I most appreciate is that I no longer have to lug around a backpack of books every time I travel. I don’t even have
to take a book to the park or the beach….I just pop my Kindle in my purse and
go. I love the convenience of it, the versatility and the sheer fact that it’s gotten me reading more than I have in years. Overall, I would highly recommend the Kindle Fire to anyone thinking about it.
I’m a believer!

Good article!

I find this to be very helpful. I will be shortly talking about prices and the different kinds of e-readers out there but thought that this article is a good introduction!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20009738-1/kindle-vs-nook-vs-ipad-which-e-book-reader-should-you-buy/

The invention of the tablet.

Surfing the internet, a quick search will show you the many tablets that are available to purchase
either online or in stores (if you are detailed and want to know everything about a tablet before you buy one, you will probably spend a couple of hours researching, making your search not so “quick”). The options seem to be infinite, depending on what you are looking for. There are a couple of them that are the most popularly known, which we are all familiar with; the iPad 1 and 2, the Kindle and Kindle Fire, the Nook, and the list goes on and on. Even though many- if not all-e-reader users are not concerned about who invented the tablet, my curiosity took me to do a little research to find who invented such magnificent devices.
I have to admit that before doing my research I “knew” that the tablet had been invented by that
technological genius that was Steve Jobs and Apple (and I believe many out there thought and are thinking that as well). So I only wanted to confirm that I was on the right track. To my surprise, the more I look to find some information the more I see the name of Stanley Kubrick, and many articles point him as the inventor of the tablet and not Steve Jobs or Apple. This has created some problems between Apple (creator of the iPad I and iPad II) and Samsung (creator of Samsung Galaxy among other products).
Stanley Kubrick was a movie director, screenwriter, producer and cinematographer. In his movie 2001: A Space Odyssey Kubrick showed what could be interpreted as a “tablet” (even though the more I see the images the less it seems to me to be a tablet). The idea is the same (at least
according to what Samsung claims). In the battle that Apple is having against Samsung in the search of the real inventor, the images of the movie previously cited are the argument of Samsung to claim that Apple did not invent the tablet. It seems a vague argument in my opinion because first as I said what is shown in the movie is not even close to what the tablet is today, and secondly because what is pictured in the movie never was real (at least not in the research I have done) and we can’t even prove that it worked. Obviously I might be missing information regarding intellectual rights, etc. that would probably make a difference.
The truth at least until August 24th, 2011 (the day that most articles talking about this issue are dated) Steve Jobs was the first person presenting and the one that patented the tablet, being the iPad I. It is interesting to notice and mention that all these problems between Apple and Samsung came as a response from the Korean company after they were prohibited from selling the Galaxy 10.1 in Europe (this prohibition was later lifted and the Galaxy 10.1 was sold in Europe).
The conclusion then, is that as of right now, Apple and Steve Jobs are recognized as the inventors
of the tablet, even though it seems that this might not be the final answer, and we will need to keep an eye out, if we want to know who invented the tablet. For now, you can just keep using you tablet (even if it is a Samsung Galaxy) since knowing who invented it will not affect its features.

Welcome...

To say that technology has grown and expanded in the last few years is news to no one. Very often there is something new created and launched into the market. This
has changed the way many things are done, from business, classes, games
and medicine; everything has been touched by the "magical hand" of
technology. It seems that there is never an end to the inventions and upgrades. In fact,
technology will keep advancing. Basically in every aspect of our lives
technology is developing and in some cases in leaps and bounds.

I am more interested in one of the preferred hobbies of people; books and reading.
For those interested in reading, or I should say those that are into the
hobby of reading and could read several books in just a couple of weeks (like
my wife), Tablets are probably one of the best inventions of the last couple of
years. With the first tablet on the market (and a whole chapter can be written
on who was the real inventor of the tablet) a "revolution" began and
from that moment on e-readers and e-books became sort of a "boom" of technology.

Today the number of available e-books has easily passed the 2 million
mark. Glenn Fleishman from the web-site Publicola said that in January [2010]
the company [Amazon] said that they had “more than 410,000 eBook titles
available for the Kindle." That is only one company, and even more amazing? That
data is from two years ago!! This means that the number of available books has only increased in
the last 2 years. In addition to that number that Amazon provided, other
companies such as Sony and Barnes & Noble claimed to have over 1.5 million
titles (this number however, also includes 500.000 or more public-domain
scanned by Google Books). Still, the amount is very significant, once again
especially when we consider that those number represent the figures provided in
2010 and that those numbers have only grown.

As I mentioned before, the history of who came up with the idea of the
tablet deserves a whole new entry, which eventually I will provide (and I
mention the tablet only because of my admiration for them and because I
consider them to be the most comfortable e-readers and understanding that
e-books can be downloaded to computers, cell phones, etc.). The point is that
since tablets have been on the market, the creation and invention of new and better
tablets is something very common. Basically almost every company dedicated to
the fabrication and manufacturation of electronics has come up with their own
version of a tablet or e-reader. With a broad variety of prices, sizes,
definitions, features, etc. there is a e-reader to fit the needs and demands of
every reader. Later on I will also make a comparison of the different types of
e-readers where I will include prices, features, and some more important
information, even though the comparison will not include every single e-reader
for obvious reasons.

Finally, for those interested in reading, e-readers, e-books and
technology this is the kind of blog that you will be interested in. And for
those that maybe are not as interested or as informed this will be also a good
source to become involved and learn more. Even though I am not an expert on the subject I am
really interested in it and will look for the most accurate information to
provide in this blog. Feel free to make any comments or corrections if
something is not absolutely correct, that way I (or should I say we) can make
this blog more perfect!